HC seeks Centre's response on plea for scrapping of bail law

The Delhi High Court today sought responses from the Centre and others on a PIL seeking setting aside of a provision in the CrPC that mandates furnishing of a personal and surety bonds by a person for release from prison even after his acquittal in a criminal case.
"Issue notice," a bench, comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, said after taking note of the PIL filed by Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA).
DSLSA has, in its plea, sought scrapping of section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) under which "an accused who is in custody but is acquitted in a criminal case cannot be released from jail until and unless he furnishes a bail bond and sureties."

"The said section was introduced by the legislature with the sole objective that till the order of acquittal passed by the trial court attains finality, the accused is legally bound to appear before the appellate court," the plea said.
However, it has been seen that some acquitted persons remain behind the bar as they fail to furnish the mandatory personal and surety bonds for the release, it said.
The criminal law presumes that an accused is innocent till he or she is proven guilty and the problem of such undertrials compounds when he or she cannot get released even after the acquittal for his or her alleged failure to fulfil the procedural formalities, it said.

It alleged the prison authorities do not have specific data about such prisoners who are languishing in jails after their acquittal in criminal case.
Section 437A came into being on December 31, 2009.
The court has issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs and various jail authorities here.